Articles
Cavalcante, C., & Peixoto, A. L. V. D. A. (2025). The role of
the Public Defender’s Office in guaranteeing the right to access healthcare: An
integrative review. Diversitas Journal, Volume 10 (1), p. 0042-0051. https://www.diversitasjournal.com.br/diversitas_journal/article/download/3140/2861/24129
The Federal Constitution of 1988 ensures the constitutional
guarantee of access to justice, full and free legal assistance, in addition to
allocating the Public Defender's Office as a permanent institution, essential
to the State's jurisdictional function. Thus, the present work aims to carry
out an integrative review of the literature that deals with the role of the
public defender's office in guaranteeing the right of access to health,
highlighting its constitutional role and mission, closely linked to the
evolution of the fundamental right of access to a fair legal order, an
instrument for the realization of the existential minimum. This is an
exploratory research, with data collection carried out from 11 selected
articles, through bibliographic research and also adopting a qualitative
approach, substantiated by empirical research. The present study is based on
the premise that the role of the Public Defender's Office in the
judicialization of access to health can be used as an instrument for structuring
the Unified Health System (SUS), especially in relation to the correction of
failures and injustices for access to health by low-income citizens of Alagoas.
In this context, the judicialization of health presents itself to citizens as a
legitimate and democratic alternative for the realization of fundamental rights
and access to health. As well as the institution's challenges in formulating
political and social strategies orchestrated with other mechanisms and
instruments of democratic guarantee, which improve the health and justice
systems with a view to the effectiveness of the right to health. It is
concluded that the performance of the Public Defender's Office indicates that
the judicialization of health can be used as an instrument for structuring the Unified
Health System (SUS), especially in relation to the correction of failures and
injustices for access to health by citizens of the popular classes.
Comfort, M., Tibaduiza, E., Embry,
V., & DeMichele, M. (2025). “There is a common thread”: Shifting court
culture through collaborative processes as a core component of pretrial reform. Journal of Criminal Justice, 99, 102440. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235225000893?dgcid=coauthor
Efforts to make criminal legal systems in the United States more
equitable often focus on implementing and evaluating a specific policy change.
Despite a proliferation of such efforts in recent years, the overall climate of
reform is shaky and lacking strong evidence of promising approaches to
sustainable progress. We studied six jurisdictions participating in an
initiative to implement a pretrial release assessment (PRA) as a means of
reducing pretrial incarceration. Longitudinal qualitative data were collected
during 205 meetings and 36 site visits over 55 months. At the end of data
collection, half of the jurisdictions had implemented the PRA and half had not.
Analyses indicate that independent of PRA implementation, bringing system
actors into collaborative conversations shifted court culture by strengthening
partnerships, increasing understanding of system operations, and clarifying how
data can inform intervention approaches. These findings highlight the
beneficial shifts in court culture that may result from a process structured to
promote dialogue, learning, and idea generation. This study underscores that
focusing on a discrete policy to effect criminal legal system reform may be too
narrow a lens and miss the potentially transformative effects of processes that
strengthen partnerships, improve communication, and develop a shared commitment
to common goals.
von Geldern, W. (2025). Evictions, legal counsel, and population
health: A mixed methods study. Social Science & Medicine,
118134. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953625004642
[Shortened] Existing eviction research has motivated an ongoing
movement to provide universal legal counsel to evicted tenants through Right to
Counsel (RTC) initiatives. While prior studies have explored the potential
population health benefits of RTC programs, more research is needed to
comprehensively understand the effectiveness of RTC as a public health
intervention. Using a sequential exploratory design, this study first presents
qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with evicted tenants who
received legal aid from Washington State's first-in-the-nation statewide RTC
program (n = 45). These results are supplemented with descriptive,
quantitative analysis of case outcomes (n = 970 cases from January
2024) which tenants identified as being related to mental and physical health
outcomes. Attorneys help their clients manage the psychological and logistical
burdens of an eviction, resulting in the perception of reduced stress. Legal
representation is linked to case outcomes which could improve short-term
housing security and long-term housing trajectories. Findings also demonstrate
that tenants are approximately half as likely as their landlords to have legal
representation during their eviction proceedings despite the program's broad
eligibility criteria. Results demonstrate the potential health benefits of
legal representation for tenants. While prior research has identified many
health-related benefits of legal representation for tenants, policymakers may
need to increase representation rates to maximize the population health
benefits of RTC programs.
Williams, J. M., & Gosch, H. B. (2025). Assessing Access to
Legal Representation for Unaccompanied Migrant Children: National, State, and
County-Level Analysis of Free- and Low-Cost Attorney Prevalence in Relation to
Children’s Locations. Journal on Migration and Human Security, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/23315024251339778
[shortened] This study presents the first effort to assess unaccompanied migrant children’s access to free and low-cost attorneys in the United States at the national, state, and county levels. Since 2021, over 544,000 unaccompanied children have entered the United States and been apprehended along the southwest border. To date, little research has explored the factors that support or inhibit unaccompanied children’s access to representation. This study draws on research that shows that geographic proximity to attorneys is one key factor affecting the likelihood that immigrants will obtain counsel and research that demonstrates dramatic unevenness in legal counsel nationally to assess the prevalence of free and low-cost immigration attorneys in relation to where unaccompanied children are released to sponsors. Our findings demonstrate an overall lack of free and low-cost immigration attorneys in relation to the number of unaccompanied children in need of legal representation, with only one attorney for every 137 children nationally. Moreover, in assessing attorney to child ratios at the state-scale, we demonstrate that in 43 states (86 percent of the states in the country) the number of children to attorneys exceeds reasonable caseloads. Importantly, these estimates do not account for the fact that not all free and low-cost immigration attorneys take on children’s cases nor for the overall demand for immigration legal services among the more than three million individuals facing deportation in the United States. In turn, while sobering, our estimates likely significantly over-estimate children’s actual access to representation across the United States.
Reports, Briefs, and Other Resources
Hernandez, A. N. (2025). Optimizing Client Retention in Mental
Health Diversion (Capstone, California State University, Monterey Bay). Retrieved
from https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2944&context=caps_thes_all
This qualitative study at the Monterey County Public Defender’s Office explored client experiences within the mental health diversion program. The research was prompted by a noticeable discrepancy of high case dismissal rates that appeared to be linked to declining client engagement rather than successful program completion. Twelve clients were interviewed and categorized into two groups: active participants and program graduates. Additionally, two lead attorneys overseeing diversion cases were interviewed to provide further insight into the program’s impact and potential strategies to strengthen client engagement. Through analysis, six key recommendations emerged:(1) a participant checklist packet, (2) Employment Connect partnerships, (3) transportation assistance via bus passes, (4) an emergency support kit, (5) court and appointment reminders, and (6) sealed record training. These recommendations were presented to key stakeholders, including attorneys, a psychiatric social worker, and the Prop 47 grant manager, who identified their top priorities for implementation This research achieved its purpose, as clients' voices shared through interviews successfully persuaded attorneys to adopt three of the six recommendations and to propose further research to identify additional contributing factors affecting client engagement.
Ishola, O. T. (2025). Towards Change in the Criminal Justice
System: Understanding the Challenges of Courtroom Actors (Doctoral
dissertation, Bowling Green State University). Retrieved
from https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send?accession=bgsu1743600857926785&disposition=inline
[Shortened] Previous research has highlighted issues affecting the
criminal justice system. Such problems relate to police, sentencing,
incarceration, pretrial detention, use of money bail, and speedy bail hearings,
among others. However, specific challenges faced by courtroom actors have not
received sufficient attention. This study takes a different approach by
examining these challenges, their effects, and the roles criminal courtroom
actors play in leading change. Utilizing qualitative methods, this research involves
questionnaires and interviews with criminal court trial judges, prosecutors,
and public defenders in Ohio and Michigan. It explores their challenges, the
impact of these challenges, their leadership roles, and the effects of
COVID-19. Findings reveal that prosecutors and public defenders face challenges
related to public perceptions, while all three primary actors (prosecutors,
public defenders, and judges) identified challenges associated with resources
and personnel, process, and defendants/victims. The effects of the challenges
of actors have far-reaching consequences on the defendants, victims, process,
and court outcomes. The findings suggest that addressing the challenges faced
by courtroom actors can play a crucial role in improving outcomes and reducing
inequalities in the criminal justice system. Addressing the challenges faced by
courtroom actors will require concerted efforts from all parties involved, as
well as support from both within and outside the courtroom workgroups. The
methodological implications of this study suggest more qualitative studies are
needed to study criminal courtroom actors and criminal courtroom workgroup
dynamics.
Sateary, E. (2025). Understanding the Needs of the Intellectually
and Developmentally Disabled and Autistic Population in the Criminal Justice
System (Thesis, Concordia University, St. Paul). Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.csp.edu/human-services_masters/21
This paper explores the inequitable treatment of the
Intellectually and Developmentally Disabled and Autistic (IDD/A) population in
the criminal justice system. Although progress has been made over the past
century with understanding the unique needs of this population, they still face
challenges at all stages of the criminal justice system. Behavioral, social
skills, and sensory challenges make it difficult for the IDD/A population to
avoid criminal justice contact and to understand the criminal justice process.
Insufficient training for police and attorneys harms both persons with IDD/A
and criminal justice professionals. This paper examines current practices in
place that are barriers to equitable justice to individuals with IDD/A and
discusses the lack of knowledge criminal professionals have regarding this
population. Changes to be implemented to prevent persons with IDD/A from making
contact with the criminal justice system and systemic changes to interactions
with law enforcement and attorneys, court proceedings, and sentencing are
reviewed. This paper discusses where multiple stakeholders can make
improvements so all persons can receive equitable justice.